Vantaggi
The company itself has a lot of good qualities. They have a good 401k plan and pay higher than most other part time jobs. Most of the customers are great to work with, as with any customer service job. The other part timers/hourly workers are also great to work with as well. It's a relatively laid back environment because most stores only employ like 5 or 6 people if that, so it's more like a family environment and less corporate guidelines and scripted HR speeches and stuff like that. They're relatively flexible with school schedules if you're going to school. If you REALLY work for it there are opportunities to move up within the company, but most likely you will need a four year degree; there was a time when mixing paint for 10 years would render you eligible to run a store without a degree, but it seems like now the only way to move any higher than assistant manager is to have your bachelor's.
Svantaggi
Part timers and hourly workers are not treated with respect. There's a rare chance that you'll work for a store manager who actually cares about their employees, but for the most part if you are just an hourly worker, whether part or full time, you will be taken advantage of. They will work you the hours that are most convenient for them, no matter what it means for you, and in my case 80% of my time working in the store I was completely alone, by myself, since I had a key and could close at night. This was incredibly unsafe since the people closing make bank deposits. I was also constantly stuck with two hour shifts at the end of the day because the manager and assistant manager couldn't be bothered to stay any later than 4 or 5 to help close the store. They mostly give management positions to kids fresh out of college with absolutely no work experience or sense of work ethic, and turn a blind eye to seasoned employees who could do the job much better, especially if you haven't gotten your degree yet. In my case (not all stores are like this) I worked for a magnificently sexist and misogynistic manager who strongly believed that since I was the only female in the store that all the cleaning duties should fall on me, and no matter how many times I brought this up to him I was still the store maid. Basically, if there are inappropriate or demeaning issues going on in the store, you're pretty much screwed because the company is rife with sexism just like my particular store was. You can complain to HR and whoever you like, but nothing is likely to be done about it. Like I said, not all stores are like this, and not all SW employees or managers think and act that way. There is just a large majority in SW that do.